<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2MHz5QMTdg8&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2MHz5QMTdg8&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/1911_bugner.shtml BOXING legend Joe Bugner is on the ropes and heading for life in a WHEELCHAIR as his body crumbles from punishment he took in the ring. For the ex-world title contender, this is the most terrifying count he has ever faced. ONE: His spine is near collapse. TWO: He spends 20 HOURS a day in bed because of the pain THREE: The once powerful heavyweight can only shuffle around with a WALKING STICK. FOUR: His ribs, battered in 83 pro fights, are so calloused they stick out like CORAL. FIVE: His upper body is so tender he can't even wear a SHIRT. SIX: The pain means Joe can't have SEX with loyal wife Marlene. SEVEN: He's so weak she has to FEED him. EIGHT: He's lost 2 STONE in the last four months. NINE: "My surgeon says I need major surgery— and there's a risk I could end up paralysed if it goes wrong," said Joe. Speaking from his home in Australia, Joe, 57—who beat Henry Cooper to win the British heavyweight title and twice went the distance with Muhammad Ali— told us: "The pain is unbearable. Six discs have collapsed in my back. Surgery to fuse them hasn't worked." Joe, who kept fighting until he was 49, added: "I never dreamt I'd end up like this. I'm really worried I'll be in a wheelchair. "Marlene's been brilliant. But we haven't been intimate for months because of my chest and ribs." He's put the op off till after Christmas so he can spend it with Marlene. "I'm facing the fight of my life," he said. "Suddenly I don't feel so invincible any more."
:: Joe was out at the fights down here a few weeks ago, speaking about fighting Bob Mirovic. He was not shirtless and was bumping shoulders with a couple of fairly large lads. Aussie Joe is no cripple.
Aussie Joe Bugner was a real good heavyweight in an era of great ones. I think his best performances were in defeat in the first Ali fight in Vegas where he pushed Ali to the limit, and the fight with Frazier in England when he punched Joe's eye shut and really busted him up, with the deciding factor being a knockdown Frazier scored in the hard fought battle. Joe did have some big wins vs Jimmy Ellis, Richard Dunn, Greg Page, Henry Cooper, Quick Tillis, and Bonecrusher Smith, though. He was a playboy and lived in the fast lane and made no bones about it that he loved the women, and I wish him luck in his current struggle. His most famous quote when some reporters questioned him about his so called "lack of effort" in his world title fight in the Ali rematch: "Don't tell me he can't punch mates, I just went 15 rounds with the greatest fighter ever!"
If you watch the youtube video, you will hear the great expression he had about how boxing was all about the money...and being able to spend it.
Well......NOTW is a cheap rag but they broke the story about Sophie Anderton running around offering her fanny for 15 thou a pop.....that was true...I didn't see any reason why they would lie about Bugner, who did, lets face it, fight on well into his 40's and who, like a lot of men of his size, could go on to suffer major back trouble. That said...the foto looks a bit staged and he looks a bit bull necked for a guy who has lost weight. Also I dont see anything wrong with his ribs.
I saw Joe bungee jumping last weekend, followed by 25 pints at the pub while feeling up schoolgirls and punching on with bouncers. He's fine.
Yep, I saw him dirt biking the other day, flew past me at 100mph over this huge jump, then he stopped and chatted to a bunch of young girl-scouts while carrying a 400lb granite boulder. He's fine.
